Animal welfare is found in all levels of swine production, from society and consumers to producers and industry. Approaches to animal welfare include the functional approach, where productive and healthy animals have good welfare. Another approach involves affective states, focusing on how the animals feel, including fear, pain and discomfort. The natural approach involves the animal being able to express its natural responses to situations as it would in the wild. If this is not possible, stress and frustration occur in the animal and they cannot properly cope. All of these approaches should be looked at collectively.
A Comprehensive Approach to Animal Welfare Science (full article)
